SHIELD Reforged
by TheBeardedOne
Summary: (Institute Saga) After the revelations that SHIELD is compromised, Director Fury must find a way to turn it back to what it should be. The Shield must be reforged.
1. Crucible

_I do not own the characters. DC and Marvel do.  
><em>_This is set just at and after the end of the Institute Saga III and while other characters may appear, it is primarily about SHIELD._

.

**Chapter One**

Crucible

.

Nick Fury looked out of the panoramic bridge window at the debris-covered landscape slowly scrolling by below them. As they passed over the first of the wrecked helicarriers, he sighed.

"At least we'll have plenty of spare parts."

"It looks like, with a slight adjustment, we'll be able to replace the gravetic turbines with the repulsor-engine wings." Tony Stark noted and Fury nodded.

"Given the damage, I doubt that even _one_ of those ships could be salvaged without requiring a total rebuild. What the hell were the Council thinking, anyway?"

"I think that we need to get them scanned to check that they aren't linked to Hydra." Tony said. "I've already made an appointment with Sage to check myself, Pepper and the rest of the Avengers. I don't think any of _us_ are at risk, but…"

Fury snorted. "You're setting a good example? You?"

Tony paled. "Aw hell! I'm becoming… _respectable_! No! I'm too handsome to be respectable!"

Fury smirked at the panicking multi-billionaire, then turned his attention to the orbiting screens showing different views of the three battlefields.

"Sir!" A voice called, "Communication from Governor-General Zod, Apocalypse has been secured in stasis."

"Communication from Genosha!" Another voice called. "King Marko sends his regards and… thanks us for his new Kryptonian Guardian?"

"The clone." Fury and Tony chorused, then they glanced at each other.

"The clone that Magneto had made. Has to be her." Tony continued and Fury nodded.

"So, Genosha is about to get its own Kryptonian." Fury grumbled. "Who next?"

"Well, Doom has two, sorta." Tony shrugged as his fingers danced across a nearby screen. "Pulling up battlefield after-mission stats. The air force took significant losses, almost half the craft were shot down by the Sentinels although all but seventeen pilots managed to eject. No hero fatalities, but several of the teams will be at half-strength or below as their members heal. The military ground forces report only a few injuries, but they hadn't fully mobilised by the time that the action was finished. They're moving in now to help with the clear-up."

"It's going to take months to get things cleared up." Fury sighed, then he summoned a new screen. "And the Triskellion… sorting _that_ mess out will take _years_."

Tony blinked. "What? But… it was barely damaged!"

"But Hydra were inside from the first day." Fury countered. "They infiltrated SHIELD _before_ we even started _building_ the damned place! Who knows how many hidden rooms and spy systems are in it now! And as for the staff… I'm going to have to hire a team of _telepaths_ to sort out the SHIELD agents from the Hydra infiltrators."

"Shit." Tony agreed in realisation. "Man, am I glad that _I_'m not in line to lead SHIELD."

"Number four, actually." Fury said absently and Tony froze.

"What?!"

"You are the fourth leader of SHIELD." Fury repeated. "I'm number one. Should I fall, Abigail Brand is second, then Jasper Sitwell. You're number four due to your patriotism and experience in leading large organisations."

"What about Cap?" Tony protested. "He's…"

"_Too_ patriotic and still catching up with modern technology, although the new stuff from New Krypton isn't helping him much." Fury sighed. "He's number fifteen. Just before Reed Richards."

"Reed is number _sixteen_?" Tony asked in disbelief.

"Eighteen, actually." Fury corrected as he turned back to look over the battlefield once more.

"Sir."

"Coulson." Fury nodded. "I have a mission for you."

.

Agent Phil Coulson stepped onto the bridge of the Helicarrier, his gaze briefly darting to the smoking wreckage on the ground below.

The Bridge crew were far more somber than normal, the atmosphere of the Bridge heavy, but somehow still triumphant. To one side, Tony Stark stood in his Iron Man armour, his face a rather amusing mix of emotions as if he had received some news that he was uncertain how he should feel about.

"Sir."

"Coulson." Fury said without turning round. "I have a mission for you. I need you to visit Governor-General need a new Triskelion."

Coulson blinked, his mind darting through the chain of logic. The facts assembled in his mindscape and he mentally nodded as he put the disparate pieces of information together.

"Understood, sir. I agree that there is virtually no chance that Hydra could have infiltrated New Krypton."

"You _certain_ that he isn't a telepath?" Tony asked and a corner of Coulson's mouth briefly twitched upwards before he got himself under control again.

"Limits, sir?"

"Try not to bankrupt us." Fury shrugged. "Otherwise, use your best judgement."

"Of course, sir." Coulson nodded. "May I suggest we use one of the alternate sites to locate the Triskelion II?"

Fury looked blank for a moment. "Explain."

"It would be cheaper given how reinforced the Triskelion is and thus how difficult it will be to demolish and clear. In addition, once we have removed all of the classified technology, the building could be re-purposed. It would take only a relatively small effort to turn it into a shopping mall and apartment complex. We could even maintain a few safe-houses in it, no-one would expect that."

"An excellent idea." Fury finally agreed. "It would also provide a welcome boost to our funds."

Phil nodded, then turned and walked off the Bridge. Making his way through the corridors, he paused outside a reinforced room just long enough to present his security pass, then he entered it, pausing briefly as he looked at the Door.

The portal was set into a three-meter-square slab of Kryptonian metallic-crystal alloy which encased all of the inner workings, protecting them from damage. A raised walkway led through the Portal, a walkway that was set above a large bundle of pipes, cables and conduits which acted to link the Helicarrier to the other Door-enabled SHIELD bases, although the Triskelion link was now non-functional due to the Apocalypse incident.

Resuming his progress, Coulson stepped through the Door and onto the opaque-force-field protected SHIELD balcony in the Hall of Doors. Once again, he had to pause for the door to open, then he stepped out onto the walkway, turning right as he headed for the Door that linked to the newer Hall of Doors on New Krypton, nodding politely to the people using the Hall as he did so.

.

"…and how was this even allowed to happen?" One of the faceless silhouettes on the meeting room screens demanded.

"It happened because of all the threats that SHIELD has prepared for, the return of a three-thousand-year-old omega-class mutant tyrant was not one that was foreseeable." Fury half-snarled. "Rest assured that once the planning division are cleared, they will be asked to put together plans for other myth-based eventualities, including an attack by Galactus if necessary."

"Who?"

"Galactus. According to the Kryptonians, it's an ancient planet-devourering entity." Fury shot back. "Apparently, although it destroys planets, its very presence prevents something worse from entering our universe, so destroying it isn't a viable option."

"Surely if you can destroy it, then whatever comes after it can be destroyed as well?" One of the other figures asked and Fury shook his head.

"Unlikely. I've spoken to Odin about this and Galactus is supposed to act as the lock, its very existence holding back a being so powerful that it took the Asgardians, the Celestials, the Eternals and the Kal'tash to lock it away. Almost three-quarters of each race died in the process with the Kal'tash being wiped completely out of existence. Do you honestly believe that _we_ are powerful enough to match _them_?"

None of the figures replied and Fury nodded in aggrieved satisfaction.

"Good. Moving on. Now that we know that SHIELD is compromised, I've already started to reconfigure it, Only those who pass a telepathic scan by a trusted telepath or who pass other tests that I am arranging will be allowed to serve in the new SHIELD. I had Xavier check me to ensure that I wasn't a Manchurian Candidate. I passed."

"If SHIELD is compromised, what about the others?" A female silhouette asked and Fury bowed his head slightly.

"We have no choice but to assume that all departments have been compromised to some degree. SWORD is currently performing its own screening, having secured the services of a couple of telepaths from the Justice League. We have also placed an order with Black Ink for their truth-potion, _Veritaserum_, with the application and questioning to be overseen by their own people. Since neither organisation is native to our reality, they will not have been infiltrated. We are also preparing to start negotiations with the Yamanaka clan for the use of some of their mind-walkers."

"How long will it take to verify and re-assign your people?"

"Hard to say." Fury replied. "Best case scenario, maybe six months, assuming that the _veritaserum_ works as expected. Worst case? Several years with no guarantee of success."

The figures on the screens moved as if they were talking to each other, then one of them spoke.

"You have our full support, Director. It is good to know that you are in control of the situation. We will not keep you from your duties any longer."

The screens blinked off and Fury glared at them.

"Control, hell." He muttured as he turned to leave. "If I _had_ control, this situation wouldn't remind me so much of the snakes on a m*****f***ing plane. And _that_ was a truly f***ed up undercover mission."

.

The screens in the study lit up and the woman in the chair looked at the silhouettes on the monitors before her.

"Alright." She said in a commanding voice. "Does _anyone_ have any idea of what the hell this Yamanaka clan is and where they are?"

"I think I might." One of the figures finally said hesitantly. "I _think_ they were mentioned as part of the report on the inter-reality diplomatic missions, but I'm not certain."

"That gives us a place to start." The woman nodded. "I shall begin checking the reports to get more details. We shall re-convene tomorrow at noon."

The screens went blank and the woman tapped at her computer, setting up a search through the records available to her. A couple of moments later, her eyebrows shot up.

"Ninja?"

.

"Agent Coulson?"

Phil looked around, then his gaze rose as the owner of the voice that had hailed him lowered herself to the ground.

"I'm Sabra." She said with a slight smile. "United Krypton Intelligence Service."

"I thought that you were a _Mossad_ agent." Phil remarked and Sabra nodded.

"I was, but Mossad was folded into the UKIS. Well, I say folded, but since there were only three Kryptonians in _their_ Military Intelligence…"

Sabra broke off with a slight shrug. "Anyway, I am here to take you Lieutenant-Governor Faora. If you will come with me?"

Phil quickly took position by her side as they walked through the flows of people passing through the New Krypton Hall of Doors. Phil looked round curiously, then he almost halted as a centaur trotted past, a young girl perched on his back.

"Was… was that a New Olympian?"

"He was." Sabra confirmed. "They are starting to spread out more, interacting more with the other nations. Well, I _say_ nations, it's more similar to the United Kingdom, really."

"So which one is Scotland?" Phil deadpanned, only to receive a flat look in reply. "Sorry."

"The metaphor doesn't really hold up all that well." Sabra admitted as they exited through a portal that led them out of the base of an obelisk. "The car is this way."

Phil felt his eyebrows raise as he saw the vehicle that they were heading towards. The car looked perfectly normal, at least until you spotted the lack of wheels, or indeed the wells for the missing wheels to fit into. Instead, the open-topped car rested on a set of retractable landing pads.

"Ground-effect anti-gravity technology." Sabra explained as she vaulted into the drivers seat, not bothering to open the door. As she began tapping various controls, powering up the vehicle, Phil opened the passenger door and sat down.

"Seatbelt?"

"Tractor field." Sabra said as Phil felt himself being pulled gently but firmly into the embrace of the seat. An instant later, the car rose slightly and Phil heard the whine of the landing gear retracting.

"Hold on." Sabra smirked, then Phil was almost slammed back into his seat as the car leapt forwards, banking into a turn before straightening out and speeding up.

"There's no breeze because of a low-powered forcefield." Sabra said, pre-empting his question. "You have questions, so now is the time to ask them."

"So that is why we didn't simply take a Door to our destination." Phil realised.

"That and you don't have a valid security pass for that particular Door, yes."

Phil nodded. "I see. Getting into the habit of security when enemies can't reach you, so that you are prepared for when they can. Very clever."

"I'm glad you think so." Sabra chuckled.

.

.

.

.

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_Author's Afternote – Yes, _Snakes On A Plane_ is now IS-canon!_


	2. Furnace

_I do not own the characters. DC and Marvel do.  
><em>_Mr Black comes from the HP-AU Black Ink series (link in profile) by Rorschach's Blot.  
><em>_The IS-Side-Story chapter "Nightcrawler Unmasked" is also referenced._

.

**Chapter Two**

Furnace

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Fury stood on the lower launch-deck of the Helicarrier as he awaited his guest. A slight movement in the distance caught his attention and he turned to get a better look at the two dots that had emerged from a distant cloudbank. A few moments passed as the dots seemed to swell into recognisable shapes with the smaller one being a black-clad blonde woman flying without aid. The other dot was a man wearing dark clothes and a long coat, a man who was astride a motorcycle that was driving through the sky with no apparent means of support.

The two of them swooped in and the woman touched down barely three paces away from Fury while the man drove round to the front of the Helicarrier, landing perfectly and racing up to them, skidding to a halt.

"Mr Black. Mrs Black, thank you for coming."

"Call me Kara." The woman smiled. "And he's Joe."

"Since it's business, I'll remain formal." Fury said and Kara rolled her eyes while Joe Black dismounted from his bike, then shrunk it down and placed it in a pocket. Aside from a slight eye-twitch, Fury ignored the magical trick.

"So, you wanted _veritaserum_. Several barrels of it, in fact." Mr Black said, cutting across the meaningless pleasantries with a directness that Fury found refreshing. "You do know how easy it is to abuse that stuff, don't you?"

"I do," Fury admitted, "But I need to check the loyalty of as many of my people as possible. My organisation has been penetrated to an alarming degree and I need to know who to trust, who to fire and who to put on trial. If it helps, you are not my only recourse."

Mr Black nodded slowly. "I think I see. So, it's a matter of loyalty… hmmm, I wonder…"

"Oh-oh." Kara said with a teasing smile. "Watch out, he's getting an idea!"

Mr Black gave his wife a quelling glance, then nodded in confirmation of the decision he had made.

"How about something different. I'll be happy to make an archway that will only let through those who have no intention of betraying SHIELD. You can then offer the ones who are blocked _veritaserum_ to see why, or simply accept their resignations."

"Acceptable." Fury agreed. "How much will the archway cost?"

"I'll handle this." Kara interrupted, earning a confused look from her husband. "What? We both know how little you care about money, you'd probably just give it to him for free."

"And what's wrong with that?" Mr Black asked plaintively.

.

"Agent Coulson." The woman behind the desk said in greeting.

"Lieutenant-Governor Faora." Phil Coulson replied with a nod verging on a bow. "Thank you for agreeing to see me."

"It makes a change from e-forms." Faora sighed, glaring at the holoscreen before banishing it. "Have a seat."

Phil moved to one of the seats in front of the desk and lowered himself into it, only to jump out as it started to ripple under him.

"What…" He began before catching himself. "Sorry. That caught me by surprise."

Faora smirked as he carefully sat down again, this time not moving as the contours of the seat altered to support his weight perfectly.

"Comfy."

"Indeed." Faora agreed, leaning back slightly in her chair. "Now, what may I help you with?"

"SHIELD is having an issue with one of the results of the Apocalypse Incident." Phil began. "We have discovered that our organisation has been infiltrated by Hydra. We have initiated protocols designed to flush out and neutralise the infiltrators, but we also have a different problem. The Triskelion."

"I thought it wasn't damaged." Faora noted and Phil nodded.

"Aside from some broken windows and bullet holes, plus quite a few bloodstains, it wasn't. However, we no longer trust it, since Hydra had already begun its infiltration of SHIELD when it was constructed."

"So you have no clue as to what bugs and hidden equipment might be in there." Faora realised. "So, why come to us?"

"Director Fury was hoping to purchase a new building from you." Phil revealed and Faora stared at him as if he'd just pulled his face off to reveal himself to be the Red Skull.

"…wants to purchase a _building_?" She finally managed, then she shook her head. "I admit, I did _not_ see that one coming."

"We've already started pulling out all of the equipment and have teams checking it to ensure that the computers aren't compromised." Phil explained. "I've also got the plans for the old Triskelion, showing what areas were assigned to what."

Faora nodded slowly. "I'll put you into contact with our resident architect. I'm certain that he'll enjoy the new challenge."

.

"Fury-sama?" A voice said and Fury turned to find himself looking at a blond man dressed in a green flack-jacket with a red haori over it. A bandana with a metal plate covered his forehead, a plate with an odd swirl design on it. "I am Yamanaka Inoichi. Black-Dono said that you wished to speak about hiring my clan for a mission?"

"I do." Fury agreed. "I have a problem and I was hoping that your people have the expertise to help us. That will be all, Agent Avery."

The agent who had escorted Inoichi to the bridge saluted before departing and Inoichi walked forwards to join Fury in looking out over the slowly-scrolling landscape beneath.

"My world does not have anything like this." He admitted. "Yet."

"It is the culmination of a large amount of technical advances." Fury said. "I do not know much about your land, but Mr Black said that you could be trusted. How do you know him?"

"Black-Dono is the primary summons of Uzumaki Naruto." Inoichi said with a wry smile. "He is the scariest being I have ever faced. Not surprising, given that he is the Shinigami."

Fury blinked. "Wait. Black… is _Death_?!"

"You did not know?"

"We are talking about the same Death here, aren't we?" Fury said, turning to look at Inoichi. "You know, skeletal form, scythe, dark robe…"

Inoichi nodded. "I have seen him assume that form. There is no question. He _is_ the Shinigami."

For a long moment, Fury simply stared at the ninja.

.

Phil stared at the holographic display in front of him as Azal-Ty fussed over the projected tower. The virtual building itself was trilaterally symmetrical with three shard-like towers rising to points. A disc-like multi-level platform was supported by the towers, giving the impression that it had been dropped so that the towers lanced through it,while a fifteen-level cylinder rose up, filling the gap between the towers to a third of the way up to the disc with a thinner cylinder rising up another fifteen levels. The top of the thinner cylinder was slightly recessed in order to hold a grassy space that bordered on being a park while the top of the disk had three partially-recessed helipads with hangars.

Below ground level, the building was a single cylinder that expanded outwards to slightly beyond the bases of the towers, lancing downwards as deep as the tower extended above ground.

"_Voila_! As the French say." Azal-Ty declared. "The Triskelion II, designed for maximum efficiency and security. The entrances all incorporate scanner-archways while defensive weaponry is strategically located on the vertical towers, around the upper disc and atop the edge of the lower balcony. Shield generators are located just _here_, _here_ and _here_ while the upper portions of the towers hold the primary communication and sensor arrays to ensure maximum signal reach. Now, the areas _inside_, well, just watch. I've colour coded it…"

A new image formed of the original Triskelion and its internal spaces glowed in different colours, with tags attached to each colour to explain what it was. As Phil watched, each colour slowly separated and then transferred across to settle into the Triskelion II, expanding to fit into its new location but remaining in a similar place relative to all the other sections. By the time that all the colours had transitioned, it was obvious that the Triskelion II had almost three times as much volume as the original tower _and_ extra space to spare.

"There is room for further expansion if needed." Azal-Ty pointed out almost needlessly. "The outer shell is comprised of the same alloy that we use on our spaceships, so it will be able to survive even a Helicarrier colliding with it with no more than minor denting and the replacement of some windows."

Phil whistled in appreciation. "Amazing, but how much will it cost?"

"Not as much as you obviously think." Azal-Ty laughed."We will use the shipyard to build it and then lower it into position and connect it to the water, electricity and so on."

"So, how much?" Phil asked again.

.

"**so Fury is trying to rebuild SHIELD.**" MODOK mused as he mentally sorted through a dozen different datastreams. A small part of his awareness started calculating the probability of detection for various spies that had maintained their cover during the attack by Apocalypse and cross-referenced them with how much damage they could cause Hydra if uncovered and interrogated. "**and this time he is aware of the problem he faces, but once i find out which construction company he is going to use, i will ensure that his new headquarters is not as secure as he would like to believe.**"

A hundred encoded messages shout out through the internet and MODOK started running probability scenarios on how much technology could be intercepted from the downed helicarriers before SHIELD worked out what was going on even as he finished his journey. Floating through the doorway, MODOK stared as the semi-complete structure in front of him, a structure based on the stolen plans of the now-crashed Helicarriers.

"**within a year, the **_**Right To Rule**_** will be complete.**" He smirked. "**it will serve well as my new prosthetic body.**"

An alert caught his attention and MODOK switched another portion of his awareness to the video-file that the semi-independent programme had highlighted. A spinning icon with one side being the X-Men's X-in-a-circle and the other being the stylised bugle of the Daily Bugle spun as a voice-over sounded.

"_Tonight on Daily Bugle Online, an interview with an X-Man. The hero of Bayville High, Nightcrawler."_

MODOK quickly downloaded the file and analysed it.

"**interesting. a being with the ability to forcibly activate the x-gene. i will have to keep watch for this Azazel.**"

.

"…yes, this will do." Fury finally pronounced, looking up from the holographic display. "How long will it take to build?"

"They will be using the Shipyard, so a month or so." Phil Coulson said, earning a surprised look. "The advantage is that they can build it in zero-gravity, meaning that they can simply assemble all the bits and push them into place rather than having to do each level sequentially."

Fury nodded, then turned his attention back to the hologram, zooming in and out as he examined the various areas.

"They have even included a reinforced inner core and a large number of secure rooms." He finally said in a tone that mixed satisfaction and admiration. "When can they start?"

"As soon as I send them confirmation, sir."

"Send it."

.

"NO MORE MUTANTS! USE THE CURE!"

The mob waved various signs as they chanted their slogans. Some of the signs carried hand-drawn pictures of hypodermic needles with the word CURE printed on the side while others carried phrases and sentences that showed a mix of deep insight and total ignorance.

_Be human again!_

_Mutatns sukk_

_Mutants: Crimes against Nature!_

_God created Man: The Devil mutated them._

_Kill al muntats!_

A couple of effigies were also waved in the air, both of them hung on nooses and with a sign saying _Mutant_ strung over their chests.

The police blocking the chanting mob were highly professional, using the bare minimum of force needed to prevent the protestors from heading towards Bayville High.

"Wow." Alex said as he watched the not-distant-enough crowd from the school roof. "Seeing so many mutant-haters is just… it's just _wrong_."

"I wonder how they feel about Metahumans?" Spyke commented. "I mean, most of them out there wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a mutant and a metahuman, or even a mutant and an alien."

"Remind me to ask for more lessons in using our powers for crowd-control purposes." Alex finally said. "If those people break through, we'll have to improvise in order to protect the school, and you remember what happened last time Sunspot improvised?"

"Yeah, but on the plus side, the new gazebo has very comfortable benches."


	3. Anvil

_I do not own the characters. DC and Marvel do._

.

**Chapter Three**

Anvil

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"…and anti-mutant protests are on the rise." Agent Alvers said, pressing the control that switched the briefing screens to a graph and several video-windows. "Despite the backlash caused by the actions of the group calling itself the _Friends of Humanity_, especially the one at Bayville, anti-mutant sentiment is still rising."

"And it is rising because…?" Fury prompted.

Alvers pressed another control and the graph vanished, being replaced by the image of a robed man.

"We have been unable to identify this man, but he calls himself the Supreme Pontiff of the _Church of Humanity_. The platform that they work from is that God created Humanity and Mutants are people who have been corrupted by the Devil. They have already fended off two lawsuits by using the _Freedom of Religion_ laws and while they have so far refrained from using violence, our analysts indicate that their propaganda is becoming more extreme, indicating that they may well try to begin attacking mutants soon."

"Are the _CoH_ linked to the _FoH_?"

"Officially, no." Alvers said, glancing down at the screen hovering in front of him. "Unofficially, at least a quarter of their membership is comprised of _FoH_ activists and known sympathisers."

"This is… irritating." Fury finally stated. "Civil unrest rising _just_ as SHIELD is forced to suspend over ninety percent of its activities in order to clean house. What do our analysts think are the chances that someone is fomenting the unrest to take advantage of our inability to react?"

"Very high." Alvers sighed. "Almost certain, in fact."

.

The teleport device flashed as an old man clad in fine purple robes appeared, then the man's face seemed to flicker, transforming from that of the old man to a far younger, scarred man.

"Master Mold." The man said as he came to attention.

"**Boliver Trask."** The giant robot sat at the end of the re-purposed secret base replied. **"Report."**

Bolivar nodded, knowing that Master Mold could easily have simply uploaded his memories, but that she was choosing to respect his abilities.

"The Church of Humanity is making progress with the congregation up to over a thousand. I intend to release the first internet speech soon, but my grasp of mob psychology isn't as advanced as yours. The file is COHIS1."

Master Mold's golden eyes flickered slightly as she accessed the file and analysed it.

"**I have integrated some modifications to the speech and placed it as file COHIS1.1. Please review it and decide if it is the direction you wish for the CoH to travel."**

"I will." Bolivar said, then he closed his eyes so that he could concentrate better. Mentally pulling up both files, he compared them, then made some adjustments to the second one. Saving the changes, he opened his eyes again.

"I admit, I was quite surprised at how little reaction I got from SHIELD."

"**SHIELD are currently concentrating on removing the influences of the organisation known as Hydra."** Master Mold replied.

"Ahhhh." Trask said in sudden understanding. "So _that_ is why you suggested that now would be a good time for setting up the Church. And by the time that they've finished doing whatever it is that they're doing…"

"**The Church of Humanity will be too well established for them to take action against without risking their reputation."** Master Mold finished as Trask grinned almost ferally.

.

"Wow. What a mess." Anne-Marie Hoag stated as she stood looked out of the Fantasticar at the debris below.

"My people have already begun removing as much of the classified technology as they can, but we need assistance in clearing up the mess." Fury said from the second passenger cockpit.

"Good thing I have a pair of Kryptonians on my workforce." Anne-Marie smirked, then she saw Fury staring at her through the cockpits while in front of them, Karsta Wor-Ul half-turned from piloting the aircraft to look at her in question.

"They are the last two of those Superman rescued from Argo, they were revived on New Krypton a fortnight ago." Anne-Marie explained. "They wanted to take some time to consider their future and so I offered them jobs."

"I think I remember them.. but I wasn't fully lucid at the time I was put into stasis. I remember hearing that their pods had been transferred to New Krypton." Karsta mused and Anne-Marie shrugged.

"Cast-Or and Poll-Ux. Apparently they're double-twin-cousins with their parents being… well, Cast-Or's dad is the twin brother of Poll-Ux's mother and the other way round. They were even born on the same day in the same med-facility."

"That's… weird." Fury finally admitted. "And I'm speaking as someone who went undercover to help a New York cop defuse a bomb using three liters of water. Long story."

"I've seen enough." Anne-Marie said and Karsta turned the Fantasticar round, accelerating away from the battlefield.

"We will be back at the Helicarrier in ten minutes." Karsta stated as she Fantasticar ascended towards the cloud layer.

"So, are you taking the job?"

"Of course, Director. Damage Control will start work tomorrow." Anne-Marie replied with a slight smile. "Just make certain that your people have taken away the more… _energetic_ items. I don't want to have to deal with the paperwork caused by one of my people having an _origin_."

"I'll assign two more scanner units to the site within the hour." Fury conceded. "Now, more importantly, _two_ Kryptonians? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to get _one_?"

"At the time, there were less of us." Karsta supplied, her voice bubbling with suppressed laughter.

"I suppose I can't tempt you to transfer?" Fury grumped and Karsta lost her fight against laughter.

.

"Welcome back, Karsta." Reed Richards said as the Fantasticar settled onto the landing pad and the pilot's canopy opened. "Did the sensors work?"

"Transmitting the data now." Karsta said as one of the workstations flashed with lines of data rapidly scrolling. "I looked over the readings after dropping off Fury and Hoag and the Helicarrier II's were _not_ using Kryptonite reactors."

"Good." Reed said as he stretched his neck to look at the scrolling data. "There's too much of that stuff around already."

"Why _are_ you so worried about it?" Karsta queried as she finished shutting down the Fantasticar's systems. "I mean, it's not like it affects _you_."

"No, but it affects you." Reed replied as he frowned at one of the datapoints. "If not for the advice you gave me… and keep giving me, come to think about it, my marriage to Susan would probably be falling apart and it wouldn't be her fault in the slightest. You remind me to not get too sucked in by my projects _and_ you give Susan someone to vent at safely whenever I do something incredibly stupid."

During Reed's speech, Karsta floated out of the cockpit and landed lightly next to him, blushing lightly.

"You know, that's one of the sweetest things you've said." She smiled and Reed paused.

"Please don't tell Susan. I'm sure she _suspects_ I'm an idiot when it comes to emotions, I'd prefer that she didn't actually have proof."

"I already knew." Susan laughed as she rippled into visibility, causing Reed to freeze. "But at least you're getting better. We'll leave you to your data. Coming, Karsta?"

Karsta nodded. "Retail therapy?"

"Retail therapy." Susan confirmed as the two linked arms and walked out of the lab. Reed watched them go and winced slightly.

"Why do I think my wallet is going to need an emergency infusion?" He muttered and an intercom sprang to life.

"_Because it will._" Karsta's voice said. "_We'll be getting your birthday present for Sue._"

Reed froze as to his chagrin, he remembered about Karsta's super-hearing, then he called up a calendar on his main monitor.

.

"That was mean." Susan giggled as Karsta released the intercom button.

"Maybe it'll remind him to finish all the sound-proofing." Karsta replied. "I swear, I thought that you two would slow down after the first few months, but you're _still_ going at it. I'm astonished you're not pregnant yet."

Susan blushed even as she cupped one hand over her stomach and Karsta's eyes widened.

"You are? You are!" She gasped, then she pulled Susan into a gentle hug. "Yay! I'm going to be an aunt! What are you going to call it? Do you know if it's a boy or geirl yet?"

Susan smiled as Karsta held her at arm's length. "Reed and I have already discussed it and if it's a boy, we were thinking Franklin, or Valeria if it's a girl. However, we're waiting until our child is born to find out the gender, although I've had to stop Reed from trying to design the nursery. Where he got the idea for a repulsorlift-enabled crib from…"

Susan trailed off, shaking her head, then looked quizzically at Karsta. "Spill."

"I think he might have got it from Tony." Karsta laughed. "Natalia was telling me yesterday of Tony's attempt at helping put together the nursery… They've still got the crib in one of the store-rooms!"

"I've seen young Harry's room." Susan said with a headshake. "How _did_ they manage to make all those colours work together? I mean, blue, red, gold, green, purple and black… it just shouldn't work…"

"Come on." Karsta smiled. "Let's see what colours and designs _we_ can come up with. Who knows what Reed will come up with if _we_ don't take charge."

Susan giggled as they stepped into the lift.

.

Phil Coulson stared out of the viewport as the first girders were floated into position in the zero-g building slip. Further away, he could see the shapes of the first group of pre-fabricated rooms and conduits ready to be installed.

"So, the construction of the Triskelion II is underway." A voice said, breaking his near-meditative concentration on the activities outside and he turned to nod at Sabra.

"Here to keep an eye on me again?"

"I've been assigned as your liaison until the end of the project, so… yes." Sabra smiled as she joined him and looked out of the viewport. "You know, thing like that still amaze me."

Phil followed her gaze and watched three Kryptonians, easily recognisable by the fact that they had forsaken space-suits in favour of face-masks, manhandling one of the hundred-plus meter alloy beams into position while a group of human workers floated in wait with complex machinery. A second beam moved into position and Phil glanced round, finally finding one human with his/her hands extended, obviously using a meta-power to jockey it into position.

"Is that a mutant?" Phil asked and Sabra gave him a sidelong glare. "What?"

"There is no legal difference between Humans, New Olympians, Kryptonians, Mutants, Metahumans or any other sentient beings." Sabra ground out. "All are welcome to join the Defence Force as long as they are willing to follow legal orders and work for the good of the solar system."

"I was just curious." Phil said defensively. "My next question was going to be about how those with powers had been integrated so well. Only a few of the organisations on Earth have tried putting powered and unpowered individuals together, it's trickier than it sounds."

"True." Sabra allowed. "Those without powers are often envious of those with, while those who use powers have to be careful not to fall into the trap of seeing themselves as being intrinsically superior to those without. It's no surprise that Clark Kent is so venerated here."

Phil blinked. "I'm sorry… what?"

"Clark Kent is venerated here." Sabra repeated as outside, the beams were slotted together and the workers moved in to start fusing them together. "I believe that many of those with powers on Earth use him as a touchstone of how they themselves should operate, yes?"

Phil nodded. "He is the most well-regarded hero, yes."

"And most of those who have powers look to him for an example in how to use them." Sabra continued. "He has done more by himself to advance the cause of those with powers than any four other heroes. He's the son of a pair of normal humans, married to a mutant and has a mutant as his adopted sister, has adopted a Kryptonian, accepted his wife's long-lost son as his own and helped set up or enhance quite a few of the other teams without asking for anything in return other than that they try their best. He is a true _super_ man."

Phil nodded, then glanced at her, noting her slight blush.

"You've got his calendar, haven't you?"

Sabra's face turned bright red and Phil turned back to the viewport, his lips twitching with a repressed grin.

.

.

.

.

.

_Author's afternote – Yes, the Die Hard series is now also IS-canon!_


	4. Hammer

_I do not own the characters. DC and Marvel do._

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**Chapter Four**

Hammer

.

"…_and so, I call on you to stand with me!_" The Supreme Pontiff declaimed from the screen. "_Let us stand together to protect the human race against those who would pervert it, who would debase our species, who would warp the very spiral of life into mockeries of the human form! Let us stand together against those who would weaken us against those who would seek to corrupt the purity of humanity!_"

The screen shattered as the frame in which it was set flexed inwards.

"Daaa-aaad!" Quicksilver protested. "I'd just finished setting that up for my gaming! I was going to have a re-match with Tekmage!"

Magneto gave his son a quelling glare, then glared at the shattered television as if the preacher was still spewing his bile and hatred.

"This so-called _Church of Humanity_ has the potential to be the greatest threat on the planet to our cause." He growled. "They claim that humanity is perfect, but _we_ are the future, not them. Their time is almost over, they have yet to realise it, but they shall."

Pietro stared in near-worship at his father.

.

The deck seemed to shiver as the Helicarrier landed on the lake, the bridge windows darkening as the water covered the outside of them.

"The tugs are moving into position and the wings are being retracted, sir."

Fury nodded as he scanned the status screens. "Excellent. And the replacement wings?"

"Ready to install, sir. The engineers say that it should only take a few hours to swap them over once we have docked."

"What?" Fury barked. "A few hours? It took _two days_ to fix the current wings on."

"But they didn't have _us_ helping." A voice said and Fury turned to see Cir-El stepping onto the bridge with four other Kryptonians, one of whom was very welcome.

"Clark."

"Fury." Clark replied with a respectful nod.

"Flamebird. Mon-El." Fury greeted the other two adults, then he looked at the final figure. "Superboy. Clark…"

"Chris' powers have matured enough that he needs training in them." Clark said in explanation. "Since he now has enhanced strength _and_ flight, I agreed that he could help."

Fury frowned. "He's young. There are legal issues…"

"I thought of that." Clark said, fishing out a folded piece of paper from his belt and handing it over. Fury unfolded it and scanned it before snorting with amusement.

"A presidential permission note allowing him to help for training purposes." He said, slowly shaking his head. "Alright, you win this one."

"May we enter?" A new voice asked and Fury leaned slightly to one side as he tried to peer past the Kryptonians.

"Kal and his cousin Kara overheard what was going on and asked if they could help." Clark shrugged as the black-and-silver-clad Superman stepped onto the bridge, followed by the similarly-clad Supergirl. "Since they're from the JL reality, I thought that at least they wouldn't be actively _dis_trusted."

"_Seven_ Kryptonians helping with the upgrade." Fury realised. "_Now_ I understand why the engineers are so insistent that they can do it that fast."

Cir-El pointedly _didn't_ smirk, but Fury still glared at her.

.

The door swung open, letting shafts of light lance into the entry cavern and causing sparkles of dust to glitter as they swirled in the air.

"Here we are, sir." One of the men who had opened the door said. "One hidden base, abandoned by SHIELD as surplus to requirements five years ago."

"Excellent." The Supreme Pontiff smirked as he limped in, his staff striking the floor as he used it to help support himself. "Do they still have the records for this base?"

"No sir, I deleted them myself before escaping their investigators." The man replied. "The records are gone, sir, over-written multiple times so that they cannot be re-constituted."

"You have done well, my son." The Supreme Pontiff said in benediction. "Now, please, show me around this base… no. Not base, this _Chapel of Righteousness_!"

"Yes, sir!" The man barked as he braced to attention and underneath his holographic mask, Boliver Trask smirked in triumph.

"You may have helped us win our crusade, Jenkins… no, _Jack_. I am proud that you have chosen to stand by my side."

Jack Jenkins grinned with pride.

.

Fury stood on one of the balconies of the Triskelion, watching as the staff moved through the freestanding archway in the middle of the primary entrance hall. Whenever an agent had been sent staggering backwards by the invisible force that filled the archway, one of the Konohagakure ninja under the command of Yamanaka Inoichi would use their near-teleport technique to appear beside the agent in question and vanish in a swirl of quickly-disintegrating leaves. Once secured, the agents were given a choice of _veritaserum_ under the gazes of Henchgirl and the Doctor from Black Ink, or undergoing a mind-walk performed by one of the Yamanaka clan.

Surprisingly, several of the agents who had been singled out had proven to be innocent, but in the middle of reconsidering their career prospects. Almost half of the rest had been infiltrators from various security services and were… _encouraged_ to return to their former employers.

Of the rest, quite a few had tried to flee, only to discover that even the best-trained soldiers in SHIELD were no match for any one of the quartet of Hyuuga chunin that were supplying the primary security of the Konoha ninja. After all, it was hard to fight someone whose every strike could cost you the use of a limb.

"Director."

"Jonin Inoichi." Fury replied in greeting, his voice calm despite his unease at how well the ninja had snuck up on him.

"Henchgirl has declared that all those who have not fled have been checked." Inoichi stated. "Agent Hill has confirmed that the personnel records have been modified accordingly so I believe that our mission is over."

"I will have the balance of payment sent to you by the end of the day." Fury agreed. "How many infiltrators were there?"

"About one in twelve." Inoichi replied and Fury hid a wince. "Of which a third were… _legitimate_ infiltrators, if that is not too much of a contradiction."

"And the rest were Hydra." Fury stated.

"Mainly Hydra, yes. Fourteen were working for someone called the Kingpin."

Fury failed to hide his wince.

"But those who remain are confirmed as being loyal." Inoichi concluded. "You may start to rebuild your forces once more."

Fury nodded, then half-turned.

"Do you know anyone who would be interested in a job training my troops? Recent events indicate their current training is… somewhat lacking."

"Since they don't use chakra, that isn't surprising." Inoichi said thoughtfully. "Most of our fighting styles need chakra to boost our basic abilities… I can't think of anyone who specialises in chakraless combat… I'll ask around for you, though."

"I appreciate it." Fury said and Inoichi nodded.

"Well, I think I should be going. Kami knows what mischief my daughter has got into."

.

"No. Freaking. Way." Phil Coulson stated, his normal reserve having abandoned him in the face of what he was seeing.

Outside the viewport, the Triskelion II floated with the only movements being the final portions of the internal fitting.

"But… how?"

"Training exercise." Lieutenant-Governor Faora explained as she landed beside the gobsmacked agent. "We used the building of the Triskelion II to test out all of the building slips, then assembled everything as efficiently as possible using the advantages of our mixed workforce. Given that it didn't need to be constructed to withstand the rigours of combat, we were able to put it together without having to worry about more than four layers of redundancy."

"_Four_?!" Phil choked and Faora nodded.

"We will start it moving to Earth tomorrow, once the Bubble-drive unit is attached to the top. Has the foundation been prepared yet?"

Phil shook his head in disbelief.

"Then I would suggest you get started."

"We're still assembling the team!" Phil half-protested.

.

Lance Alvers climbed out of the helicopter and frowned as his power recognised a familiar presence. Following his instincts, he soon found himself face-to-face with a large grey-haired man in orange coveralls that was staring at him with the same confused recognition. After a moment, Lance decided to break the silence.

"I'm Avalanche. Terrakinetic with The Brotherhood." He said.

"Richter, formerly with the Omegas." The man replied. "You the one I went up against at the big fight?"

Lance nodded and the man grinned.

"Nice to meetcha at last. There ain't that many of us ground-shakers. You fought damn well."

"You fought well too." Lance said, fighting down the confusion he was feeling at their friendly conversation. "So… you here to dig the hole as well?"

"Yep. It's gonna knock a year and a half offa my sentence." Richter grinned. "Once this is over, I'll be a free man once more."

"Same deal with me." Another man in prison overalls said as he walked up. "Stonewall, I can pull the ground up to form barriers."

"So, this is where us metahumans are meeting." Another voice said and the trio turned to see a group in military fatigues walk up. The leader looked at them and nodded. "Gentlemen. I know you from your files, but allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Rampart, I specialise in raising stone formations in a manner similar to Stonewall. To my left is Bunker, he can move the earth to form trenches and, as his name suggests, bunkers. To my right is Barrage who can hurl large objects telekinetically and behind us we have Shockwave who can break rocks down into gravel, Tank and Tiny."

Lance found himself staring upwards at the ten-foot-tall hugely-muscled man with the wry grin.

"T… t… _tiny_?" He choked and the giant nodded.

"Yep, but don't let my name fool you. I'm quite big in real life."

Lance stared at him, temporarily unable to form a coherent response.

"Just ignore the big lunk." The metallic man beside Tiny laughed. "So, we've been detached to help to make a big hole and Rampart here's in charge of getting us to work together on it. What say we get started?"

Lance managed to restart his mind and he smirked.

"I agree. The sooner we do this, the better. I have a Mario Kart rematch waiting for me."

"Gentlemen." Another new voice said and Lance turned to see a suited man who had somehow managed to walk up to them without anyone noticing. "I am Agent Alvers… and no, Avalanche, we are not related. I checked."

Lance blinked in surprise.

"Thank you for agreeing to help with this project." Agent Alvers continued. "The area required to be excavated has already been marked out and we need to sink the hole no less than a hundred and forty meters."

Lance looked at the circular area marked out and whistled as he tried to calculate just how much rock needed to be moved.

"We have trucks and ready to transport the soil elsewhere and Superman was kind enough to let us hire some of the devices that he used to relocate his Fortress. Supergirl has agreed to oversee their progress in moving the waste but what we need is for you to loosen the soil so that it can be moved."

Lance and Richter exchanged glances, then they walked to the edge of the marked area.

"Rampart, Stonewall, you reinforce the sides to stop them collapsing. Richter, we'll break up the area. I've got the left. Barrage, pull the rubble out as we make it." Lance said.

"Good plan. I'm on the right." Richter replied, nodding respectfully at the younger man.

"Let's _rock_!"

.

"What the hell?"

The comment echoed across the Helicarrier's bridge and Fury turned.

"Report."

"Sir, we seem to be missing one of our old bases."

"What?"

Fury didn't remember actually moving, but one instant he was standing on the bridge's command dais and the next he was leaning over the Agent's shoulder as she pulled up several files.

"I only noticed it because it was my first posting." She explained. "I'm trying to access its systems now and… no good, sir. The base is dark."

Fury reached across and tapped several commands into the console, only for the same lack of results to occur.

"Mr Fury?" Chris called out as he floated into the bridge. "Dad says that all the links are done and the wings are ready to test."

Fury paused, then nodded. "Good, can you please go and get him? I need to talk to him about borrowing some of his allies."

The agent looked at him quizzically as Chris flew out of the bridge and he shrugged slightly.

"All of SHIELD's troops are currently tasked and they proved themselves at the Battle of the Cure."


	5. Binding

_I do not own the characters. DC and Marvel do.  
><em>_My thanks to maverickicemanfor providing the basis of the battle scene._

.

**Chapter Five**

Binding

.

Fury looked round, his face showing none of the amazement that he was feeling. Over a dozen holographic screens hung in the air, each one showing the view from a camera embedded in the wearer's mask or on their shoulder (in the case of those who didn't wear masks for whatever reason).

Superimposed around the edges of the screen were various readouts including a colour-coded outline of the person in question, a small compass showing which way they were facing and a bar (or several) that represented their power levels.

"Wanda confirms that the Brotherhood are all ready." Mystique said from her console and across the room Hank McCoy looked up.

"Havok says that team Alpha is ready. Wolfsbane reports that her group have just finished getting into position so team Beta is good to go as well."

Fury looked at the largest screen which showed a map of the base with dots showing where Generation-X and the Brotherhood were, as well as the few guards that had entered their lines of sight.

"The front door _is_ rather thick." Fury commented and Hank grinned ferally.

"We have this. Havok, you may knock."

.

Jack Jenkins looked around the hidden base which would soon become the heart of the cause. Graydon Creed might be dead and his fledgling organisation fragmenting but his ideals lived on, and with their new backers the Church would ensure Humanity Prevailed. The true-believer's pleasant daydreams of the future were interrupted when the ground shook under his feet and the three-foot thick blast doors at the entrance blew back into the entrance bay.

"Honey, I'm home!" the teen with a glowing circle on his chest laughed as he lowered his gauntleted fists, energy started to swirl around them.

"Seriously, Summers, you've been spending too much time around Parker. I almost prefer your brother's no-nonsense approach." The red-clad girl beside him complained as she stepped forward and waved her hand, telekinetically tossing the 'patriots' into the air. "Hey, Toad! Batting Practice!"

"Thanks, Wanda!" another young man darted from behind them, crouching before leaping into the air and twirling a metal staff, using it on the sternums of three guardsmen and sending them flying into the crates that had been stacked alongside one wall of the bay.

"You guys go ahead, there's enough for the two of us but you'll cramp our style!"

"Did Wanda just giggle?" Bobby Drake asked as he watched the aforementioned girl use her powers to send another pair of guards into the air for Toad to swat. Beside him, Jubilee just shrugged and popped her bubblegum as she used her plasma bolts to further disorient those of the opposition who still had their wits about them.

"Where do you think you guys are going?" the normally even tempered Fred Dukes asked as he intercepted the first group of guards rushing into the bay to find out what all the sudden commotion was about.

"You know if there's one thing I hate more than bullies, it's bullies who claim that they're superior. Well guess what?" He growled. "Superior or not, you riled us up, and if there's one thing the Brotherhood is good at its slamming down our enemies!"

As he roared the end of his statement, Blob proceeded to knock his captives out by slamming them into the ground.

"This is Alpha team. The front yard's clean and we're about to go in for the main event. How's it going out back?" Havok said into his communicator. Just as he finished twin rays of red lanced out from the tunnel at the other end of the entrance chamber.

"Good!" The Scottish burr of Wolfsbane filled his ear, "Chris just finished taking out the last of the gunmen. Word of advice, don't p*** him off. One of the idiots insulted Laura and next thing he knows he's got a hot foot."

Havok suppressed a chuckle as behind him Iceman audibly gulped.

"Alright, Bobby, what did you do?"

.

"Damn! Damn those mutie scum to hell!" Bolivar Trask raged as he glared at the news-feed.

"**Calm yourself."** Master Mold advised. **"You have lost only your newest base, you had not even begun moving your assets into it. All you have lost is time and a few followers."**

Trask took a jagged breath, then slowly exhaled. "You're right. And if nothing else, it'll distract SHIELD more as they search to see what other bases and assets they may have misplaced."

Master Mold turned her attention back to using the remotes to reassemble the computer banks that had been hidden in the base, leaving only a small sub-routine monitoring her agent's mutterings.

"I'll have to find some way of neutralising the damned mutants… maybe if I find a way to turn the Cure into something that can be breathed in instead of injected…"

.

"Nice job, people." Lance grinned tiredly as he looked across the huge cylindrical hole that he had helped to make. "Supergirl, how does it measure?"

"_You overshot by half a meter."_ Supergirl replied over their comm-link. _"I'm programming the remotes to set the footings ready for the building to be placed in there. Good job, people."_

"Damn, kid, you're good." Richter said as he moved up beside Lance. "Heck, in another few years, I won't be able to deadlock you like I did before."

"I learned a _lot_ from you." Lance admitted. "I've never worked with another terrakinetic before. Some of the tricks you used… I hope you don't mind if I borrow them."

"Not a problem, kid." Richter laughed. "Whoah, that was exhausting, but we did it and I'll be free by this time tomorrow. Huh, think I'll emigrate to New Krypton. They're still terraforming all that new land of theirs, I'll have steady work for _years_ over there."

Lance nodded, then turned away from the excavation. "Well, I'll be heading back to the House. Maybe the rest of the Brotherhood have something lined up, they don't take to boredom all that well."

"Gentlemen." Agent Alvers said as he approached. "Good work. Richter, here are your papers, you are free to go. Stonewall, here are yours. _Do_ try to stay out of trouble."

"I've already sent my application off to Damage Control." Stonewall said as he accepted the packet of papers. "Apparently, my power will be great for helping to prevent flooding."

Alvers nodded slowly. "Good. Avalanche, here is your payment. Do you want transport anywhere?"

"Nah." Lance said with a grin. "Peter let me borrow his bike for this, so I'm good. All I need to do is get to one of the Institute-allied teams and then I just hop through the Door."

"Excellent." Agent Alvers said. "Then I bid you gentlemen good day."

.

"My forces are moving in to secure the captives." Fury said as he lowered his phone. "Of course, that still leaves me with the problem of what to do about the base itself since it's surplus to requirements. Not only is it in the wrong place but I don't have enough agents to secure it properly."

"I have a suggestion." Xavier said from the doorway behind them. "Generation-X has been… complaining is too strong a word for it… has been _disappointed_ that they have to share the X-Men's base of operations. They would like their own base and…"

"And if I sell it to you, it solves my problems." Fury finished with a sharp nod. "Of course, we'll have to agree on a price. Out of interest, how will you get them there and back in time for school?"

"I'll use a Door." Charles smiled and Fury twitched.

"…of course." Fury admitted, then he frowned. "The cameras and sensors used… how much to have some that are incorporated into sunglasses?"

"I'm certain that we can come to some agreement." Charles smiled.

.

"I'm back and I'm _paid_! Tonight's takeout is on me!" Lance called as he entered the house. "So, anything interesting happen while I was making the hole-to-end-all-holes?"

"We captured a base." Fred rumbled and Lance almost stumbled.

"What?"

"Gen-X asked for our help and we kicked the _Church of Humanity_ out of a former SHIELD base." Todd said before taking a sip from the large coke he was holding. "'parently the Gens are getting it as their new training base as they don't 'preciate sharing with the X-Men."

"…huh." Lance finally managed. "Wow. Sounds like it was fun. Was it?"

"Heck yeah." Todd grinned. "Ya know, I think Wanda may not actually hate me. She threw some churchers for me to KO."

"Yes, that sounds like true love, right there." Lance snarked. "Ow!"

"Idiot." Wanda sniffed as she walked past him, lowering her hand and Toad snickered into his drink.

"That's not fair." Lance mock-sulked. "I shift several dozen tons of earth and…"

"…we shift several dozen sacks of manure." Todd broke in, causing Fred to frantically try to muffle his laughter. "The big guy got away, though, and it looked like there was something there which was also removed."

"Really?" Lance asked. "Any idea what?"

.

The massed banks of computer tapes jerked into life, moving forwards and backwards as Master Mold stared at the main console. A moment passed, then the old Cathode Ray Tube flickered into light, first turning solid green and then resolving into a slightly-stylised face.

"**Welcome back."** Master Mold said and the two boxy cameras atop the console turned to scan her.

"_**Interesting… humanoid configuration, but considerably larger than a normal human… no sign of organic components… what are you?**_"

"**I am Master Mold, central control nexus for the Sentinels. Please identify yourself."**

The cameras scanned round before returning their attention to her. "W_**hen I was alive, I was known as Doctor Armin Zola.**_"

Master Mold quickly accessed her historical databanks and pulled up several files. Scanning them quickly, she determined which ones were most likely to be valid and analysed them before responding, the whole process taking under a tenth of a second.

"**Doctor Armin Zola, formerly the scientific advisor to the Red Skull, captured by the Howling Commandos led by Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America. In exchange for not being imprisoned for life, was placed into the research division of what would later become known as SHIELD. Died in 1964 due to an incurable terminal illness but from current evidence, I calculate that you uploaded your consciousness into the mainframe which I retrieved."**

"_**I did.**_" Armin's voice rasped from the speaker. "_**My thanks for collecting all of my databases, it would have been… annoying to have found myself incomplete.**_"

Master Mold nodded, permutations of calculations cascading through her processors before she made a decision.

"**Armin, I can aid you in creating a new, superior body for yourself. I have copies of your old designs and by combining them with my Silver Sentinel design, I can bring you into the world once more."**

"_**I'm listening.**_" Armin said slowly and Master Mold tilted her head slightly.

"**Then I shall begin, so that you can aid me in preserving humanity. The project and your new body shall be known as… Bastion."**

"_**Master Mold, it will be a great honor and pleasure working for you.**_"

.

Fury looked round at the arc of screens, each one showing a different silhouette.

"The screening has been completed and those who remain are all currently loyal to SHIELD." Fury stated. "Base Starwatch has been recovered from…"

"_Wait._" One of the figures commanded. "_Base _Starwatch_? It was taken?_"

"A member of the Church of Humanity who had infiltrated SHIELD deleted it from our databases prior to the CoH moving in to use it as their primary headquarters." Fury said calmly. "A team consisting of the Brotherhood and Generation-X evicted them and the base has been sold to…"

"_Wait._" The figure interrupted again, earning a glare from Fury. "_There was a computer system there with very important data. Was it retrieved?_"

"No." Fury said, leafing through his reports. "Analysis of the images recorded from the mission indicate that _something_ was there, but that it was removed through unknown means. What was it?" _And why didn't I know about it?_ Was left unsaid, but everyone heard it anyway.

"_It was the first stable electronic intelligence,_" The figure finally said, "_and a key component in planning and designing the Helicarrier II's._"

"A stable electronic intelligence?" Fury repeated slowly. "Who created it?"

"_It was the final work… of Doctor Armin Zola…_"

"WHAT?! No wonder Hydra had us infiltrated six ways from Sunday!" Fury ranted. "Armin Zola? The Red Skull's primary lieutenant and he was brought into SHIELD? What the hell?"

"_Calm down, director._" Another silhouette said, waving its hand and Fury glared at it.

"Calm down? After discovering that _you_ knew about the problem? Have you even been loyalty-checked yet?"

"_We are the Directors._" The first figure stated. "_We do not _need_ to be checked._"

"The hell you don't." Fury growled. "Until you are all checked by Xavier or Sage, I am instigating the Praetorian Protocols!"

Before the figures could react, the screens blinked off and Fury sagged.

"Dammit." He cursed. "I hope to hell one of them turns out to be dirty, or I'm spending the rest of my life in solitary."


	6. Polished

_I do not own the characters. DC and Marvel do._

.

**Chapter Six**

Polished

.

Xavier floated out of the reinforced bunker in which the Door had been installed and looked around.

"This place brings back memories." The man by his side sighed. "That ground there is where I tried to shield everyone from a grenade. It was a training grenade, non-explosive, but I didn't know that at the time. It was before I became… before I… before."

"I hope you don't mind…" Charles began, only for Steve Rogers to shake his head.

"Why should I mind? This was a place I trained for war. What better legacy than to have it become a place where people train to maintain and promote _peace_?"

"It wasn't my faaaaault!"

Both Steve and Charles blinked as Jamie Madrox ran past, all four of him being pursued by a trio of angry girls.

"Well." Charles finally allowed. "_That_ brings back memories."

"Should we do something?"

"Four of him and he can choose which one is the real one… three pursuers… I think he'll survive." Charles smiled wryly as Hank McCoy charged past on all fours, his gaze on the vanishing students.

Steve looked around, his eyes partially unfocused as his mental gaze travelled back to when he had trained there, then he shook himself.

"I think we should check the barracks, see if the plumbing is still working or if it needs fixing."

"I agree." Charles nodded. "Several of the students have already asked about moving here."

"Then we should start over there and work our way round." Steve said. "Come on."

.

Director Fury looked up and the Avengers followed his gaze.

"There it is!" Supergirl chirped as she pointed at a blank part of the sky and Thor nodded.

"A true monolith of a tower. It would not go amiss in Asgard."

Fury squinted, then he held out his hand. Accepting the telescope from Agent Coulson, he raised it to his eye (ignoring Tony's _"Avast there!"_ and young Harry's giggle), focusing it on the descending tower block, held by three space-tugs and guided by half-a-dozen Kryptonians.

"Amazing." He whispered.

"Thank you." A new voice said and Fury lowered his telescope just as Faora landed beside him. "We've started using the same system to build the towers for the Solar Defence Training Academy since it worked so well. I have to know, though, how _did_ you make that hole? The edges are all wrong for gravetic-displacement methods."

"I hired some mutants." Fury shrugged as the Triskelion II started to swell into unaided visibility above them. "Their powers were well-suited to the task."

"It looks like it." Faora nodded. "I saw on my way down that the foundations have been laid and the connections ready to be finalised so all we need to do is line it up and drop it in. The air should cushion it and the venting system will let it escape at a controlled rate."

"There is already a venting system in place with the tunnels ready to serve as concealed accessways." Fury said and Faora nodded.

"The central computer core will take that into account. Did you manage to empty the old Triskelion?"

Fury turned to give a significant glance at the large phalanx of lorries a mile away and Faora nodded.

"Then once we've checked everything's good, you can start moving your things in."

"Excellent." Fury agreed as the sunlight was blotted out by the slowly-descending building.

"You know, this almost makes my tower seem… boring." Tony admitted. "Maybe I should move the Avengers to a new tower. Faora, can I order one of these? But bigger?"

Fury glared at the multi-billionaire who grinned unrepentantly.

"Tony, we already have more space than we can use properly." Pepper scolded her employer. "And do you _really_ want to uproot Harry after all the work we did on his quarters?"

Tony shrugged. "Sorry. New toy reflex."

"I swear, you're more of a child than Harry is." Clint snarked. "At least _he_ has an excuse."

"Yeah, you as his dad." Tony shot back. "At least he has a chance to learn to be sensible from his mother."

"…I'm not entirely certain whether that was a compliment or not." Natalia mused as she reached across and tousled her adopted son's hair.

"Please, you can be _very_ scary." Tony deadpanned. "Do you think I would _dare_ insult you?"

"You would if you were bored." Natalia riposted.

"And thought you had a chance of escaping." Clint added as Tony _huffed_.

"They have you there, Tony." Bruce chortled as he helped lift Harry onto Thor's shoulders for a better view.

"You know, that thing will displace a _lot_ of air." Bruce commented when everyone had stopped laughing at the pouting billionaire. "Are we safe here?"

"_Certes_! I would never allow young Harry to come to harm." Thor declaimed. "I have raised a shield before us, that we may watch in safety as yonder tower is placed into its rightful position!"

"He's going shakespearean again." Tony sighed, then he looked round. "You know, I thought that Cap would be here."

"He's busy." Fury stated.

.

"And… done." Piotr said with satisfaction as he connected the last power cable. Reaching out, he snagged the piece of metal he had placed on one side and lowered it into place so that it concealed the conduits under the walkway. "Logan, you done?"

"Finished ten minutes ago." Logan shrugged as he lounged in the doorway, cigar clenched between his teeth. "Got the kids to help check the plumbing, only two pipes broke. We fixed them and are good."

"Excellent." Piotr grinned. "Fortress, power up Camp X."

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, then the noise of water flowing through the newly-laid pipes echoed in the quiet of the chamber. At the same time, the lights brightened slightly, then returned to normal.

"_Colossus, this is Cyclops._" The voice said from the communicator on Piotr's vest . "_The readings show that the base is now being powered from the Fortress and the security systems are starting to charge up._"

"Excellent news, slim." Logan smirked. "Come on, shiny. Let's head up before the kids start destroying things."

.

MODOK frowned as he reviewed the serious lack of data that had been acquired from the bugs concealed within the Triskelion. Normally, the bugs recorded huge amounts of data, relaying them to specialised computers hidden below the sewage tanks (where_ no-one_ would ever look) which converted them into text and transmitted them through a concealed fibre-optic line to another computer located beneath the nearest telephone junction box which in turn used the box to transmit the files across the internet.

However, from the fact that there was less than a tenth of the usual data, SHIELD may have actually realised that they were being monitored, worked out that the bugs relied on vibrations transmitted through the ceiling frames and stripped them out.

MODOK used a search programme to scan the reports, seeking certain keywords and one file immediately popped up. Bracing himself, MODOK opened the file.

_1)It's going to be odd, leaving this place. (1  
><em>_2)Yeah, but the Two-Skelion…(2  
><em>_1)The what? Oh! The Triskelion two… yeah, that's catchy.(1  
><em>_2)As I was saying, the Two-skelion is far more secure. I mean, the Kryptonians built it for us and let SHIELD place observers to make sure nothing got snuck in that shouldn't have been. I heard that Stark even donated an ARC reactor to power it, like the one in his tower.(2  
><em>_1)How long do you think before Hydra finds out that they can't listen to us any more?(1  
><em>_2)I don't know, but I wish I could see the look on their faces when they see our new headquarters.(2_

MODOK closed the file, growling even as his hyper-augmented mind considered the consequences of what had occurred.

Somehow, he was going to have to find a way to get bugs into the new Triskelion, or at least find some way to eavesdrop on them if he wanted to ensure that Hydra would continue to grow to attain its destiny as the rulers of the planet.

With another mental frown, MODOK turned his attention to the next file, an analysis of the support available to Superman.

.

"Ware below!"

The amplified shout echoed across the landscape as the Triskelion II began sinking into the hole, the tugs guiding it with the level of precision only attainable with kryptonian computational capabilities.

Around the edges of the hole, a dozen manhole covers suddenly flew upwards before stopping as air blasted out from underneath them. The covers remained in the air, revealing that they were being held by a trio of rods, two of them smooth and at the edge while the third had rungs welded to it, showing it to be a ladder.

"Those the emergency exits?" Tony shouted and Fury nodded.

"Yes!" He shouted back. "We have layers of hinged blades angled so that people can go up without a problem, but trying to go down will get them shredded! It's a one-way system inspired by an old escape tunnel in the UK."

"Nice." Tony nodded. "I assume the blades aren't the only defence."

"Motion sensors, cameras, visual and infra-red, laser tripwires, pressure plates in the floors and walls, atmospheric pressure sensors." Fury listed. "_Nothing_ is getting through those tunnels without us knowing. Not even Myst of the Acolytes, and she can turn into fog."

Tony whistled, then turned his attention back to the descending building. "Were those the water connectors?"

"They were." Fury admitted. "They'll auto-connect to the pipes already there."

"And allow you to relocate the whole tower with minimal issues if you need to." Tony realised. "Damn, that's good."

"Tony!" Pepper scolded as she lightly dope-slapped him. "Language!"

.

"Well, it looks like the kids are settling in nicely." Logan smirked as he and Steve watched a trio of girls carrying their luggage into one of the barracks, one that had been altered with pink trim around the door and windows to denote its female-only status. The next barracks had blue trim instead of the pink, but otherwise seemed identical.

"They get more space here than they do at the Mansion." Steve explained. "Those barracks were designed to hold sixteen soldiers in each room and had eight rooms plus the shower rooms. Imagine having that much space with only one room-mate."

Logan nodded as he glanced round at the large numbers of barracks. "We're going to fit sixteen students per barracks… we've got enough space to _quadruple_ the number of students without worrying about stretching ourselves. We may need more adults, though."

"And the Door connecting the kitchens helps." Martha Kent said from behind them. "I now have somewhere large enough that it allows me to teach our students the _proper_ way of cooking."

Logan nodded as Steve looked round again. "I'm heading out to look at the old assault course." He stated. "It probably needs replacing."

"I remember the assault course." Steve reminisced. "I almost failed to make it over the cargo net."

Martha stared at him, her eyes fastening to his biceps and Steve blushed.

"I… used to be thinner." He coughed and Logan fought down a chortle.

.

The Triskelion II seemed to shudder very slightly as it finished settling and the manhole covers dropped back down, covering the escape tunnels. Several moments passed, then Agent Coulson appeared at the primary entrance and waved.

"If you will excuse me, gentlemen." Fury stated. "I need to oversee this."

"We need to head back too." Natalia said as she reclaimed her adopted son from Thor's shoulders. "It's almost dinner and I'm sure Harry is getting hungry."

"I can spare a plane." Fury began, then he paused as a scarred man stepped round, unrolling a short rope.

"It's alright." He said diffidently. "I have this."

"Whooo! Spinny time!" Tony cheered as he grabbed the rope, followed by the others, although Thor looked slightly discomfited.

"Look, big guy, why don't you just fly back?" Clint suggested and Thor nodded as he released the rope and unhooked his hammer.

"I shall see thee back at the Tower." He said, swinging his hammer, then he launched himself into the air. Fury watched him go, then turned back to the others just in time to see them all vanish in a way that was neither shrinking nor actually moving, yet somehow had overtones of both.

"What the…?" He muttered, then he shook his head and gathered his wits. He had an organisation to oversee and getting distracted by people breaking the laws of physics would only keep him from that.

.

.

.

.

.

_Author's afternote:- Yes, that was Remus Lupin with the Portkey._


	7. Deployment

_I do not own the characters. DC and Marvel do._

.

**Chapter Seven**

Deployment

.

Fury stared at the holographic screens holding the silhouettes of the World Security Council.

"You seem to be missing two." He finally stated and one of the silhouettes nodded, somehow radiating an embarrassed aura.

"_They proved to have been… unsuitable for the tasks placed on them."_

"You mean they were members of Hydra." Fury realized. "Damn."

"_The Praetorian Protocols have run their course and the new council members are being selected even as we speak."_ Another council member said. _"For now, it is not important. What is the status of SHIELD?"_

"Ready to resume its mission." Fury said, squaring his shoulders. "The aid provided by the Kryptonians, Black Ink and the Shinobi of Konoha allowed us to recover far faster than we could have without their help."

"_That is good to hear."_

Fury nodded, then swept his gaze across the holographic screens. "Ladies and gentlemen, SHIELD has been through a great deal, we have been hammered on the anvil of adversity and reforged into a new, _better_ organisation. We now know our allies and by seeing who took advantage of our temporary weakness, we know our enemies as well. We are ready to act to protect the world once more."

Slowly, the silhouettes nodded in agreement, then one of them spoke.

"_Director, you have the full support of the Council. Whatever you need, within reason, will be given to you."_

Fury carefully didn't smirk in triumph.

"I want the original Mobile Command Unit released from storage." He stated. "I know that at least one of you was using it as a personal transport…"

"_That person has been… reassigned."_ A reply came and Fury blinked as he realized that he hadn't seen exactly who it was who had said it. _"You will need to have it checked due to his previous affiliations."_

"Which means that Hydra has the plans and probably one or more of their own." Fury cursed. "Deliver it to the airfield at Camp X and I'll ask Xavier to assign Forge to it. In fact, I'll ask Forge if he can upgrade it."

"_It was the most advanced plane ever conceived when it was built."_ One of the silhouettes protested and Fury cocked an eyebrow.

"Kryptonian technology."

The silhouettes remained silent for a long moment, then slowly their screens switched off.

.

"SHIELD is back in business." Trask reported and Master Mold nodded slightly.

"**They have a new headquarters, a bigger one."** Master Mold stated. **"With the knowledge that their current staff are all loyal, they will be a bigger threat than before."**

"They could prove… troublesome." Trask sighed as he adjusted his robes before activating his holo-face. "I think I need to reinforce the message of the Church of Humanity. If you will pardon me."

Trask stepped onto the illuminated pad and vanished. A moment later a set of doors opened, revealing an angular, silver figure.

"**Bastion, how does your new body measure up?"**

"**It is far superior to _m_**_y_ original form." The figure said as it seemed to ripple and condense, turning from a metal humanoid into a short, bespectacled human. "The ability to change appearances is a very nice touch, especially how it shunts a large amount of my mass into a specially-generated pocket dimension. How did you come up with it?"

"**I have access to a large number of files, including those of the Asgardian Destroyer and the bio-readings of the mutant known as Mystique."**

"Nice." Doctor Zola smirked. "May I have access to those files? I may be able to help. I _did_ design Hydra's weapons during World War II, after all."

"**You are now keyed in."** Master Mold said and Zola nodded.

"Then I will peruse those files and see what I can come up with. It's a shame we don't have access to the Tesseract any more, the energy from that was amazing."

"**SHIELD had a copy of the plans for the ARC reactor in its possession."** Master Mold noted and Zola brightened.

"Really? Well, that changes things. Oh yes, it changes things…"

Master Mold watched as her newest servant strode out of the hall, chuckling and muttering to himself. As he did so, she reflected that it was probably a good thing that she had placed hard-coded loyalty protocols into his new body. That much ambition needed to be watched.

Carefully.

_Very_ carefully.

.

Fury looked out of his office at the operations room spread below. The room was cavernous, being almost a hundred meters across and ten meters high with his office located at the apex of the dome. A transparent grav-tube allowed him instant access to the command podium in the centre of the operations room while the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office let him look out at the giant status screens around the walls of the operations room.

"Impressive." Steve Rogers said from the bottom of the stairs that rose in a spiral around the entrance to the grav-chute and Fury motioned for the super-soldier to join him.

"The Kryptonians really know how to make good working environments."

"Well, they've been at it for over a millennia." Steve replied as he took position next to Fury. "They never had a Dark Age like we did, or if they did, it was so long ago that they have more than compensated for it."

Fury nodded as his eye flickered across the projected screens. "It shows."

For a long moment, the two men stood in companionable silence, then Steve coughed slightly.

"Sir… may I look at Kara's records?"

Fury gave him a quizzical look that suddenly turned into amused understanding as Steve blushed slightly.

"You want her ring size."

"I… have my mother's old ring." Steve said defensively. "I was hoping to get it re-sized so that I could…"

As Steve trailed off, Fury nodded.

"I'll have her ring size pulled and e-mailed to you."

"Thank you." Steve said in heartfelt relief.

.

"Clark." Xavier smiled as the Kryptonian hero lightly touched down in front of him. "Welcome to Camp X."

"I saw some of the students playing power-ball as I flew in." Clark said with a grin. "I assume you've connected this place to the Hall of Doors?"

"Actually, no." Xavier said, earning a surprised look. "We have three Doors, one from the main hall at the mansion to the bunker just behind me and the second connecting Martha's kitchen to the mess hall."

"Wait. You mean that mom's kitchen…"

"Just got a _lot_ bigger." Xavier confirmed. "She is giving lessons in how to cook properly and without powers."

"Mom always got annoyed when I cooked the food with my heat vision." Superman reminisced. "She said that doing it that fast couldn't be right."

"Logan's setting up the assault courses." Xavier continued. "He's planning on doing four, each with a higher level of difficulty."

"As long as he remembers that not everyone can heal as fast as he can." Clark commented.

"Wait, you said _three_ doors?"

"Forge has linked his lab to the vehicle bays." Xavier replied. "He's in the process of refitting the bays so that they are at the same level as his lab. I'm almost scared to consider what he will do with all that new-found space."

Clark blinked, then fought down laughter.

"Hey dad!"

Clark turned and caught Chris from the air, hugging him before lowering him to the ground. An instant later, Laura somersaulted down, landing beside them.

"Good place." She said, looking round. "Like. Open. Got room to run."

"Hey, dad, are we going to move out here?" Chris chirped as he started floating, only for Laura to pull him back down.

"I don't think so." Clark said, ignoring his son's momentary loss of control. "Much as I hate to admit it, the fact that I live at the Institute has done a great deal to help mutants be more accepted. Moving out could cause problems."

Chris frowned in thought, then Laura whispered into his ear, causing him to nod in understanding.

"Okay… but if the others are moving out here, can I get a bigger room?"

"I'll see what I can do." Clark laughed.

.

"Agent Coulson."

"Director Fury." Phil replied.

Fury gave him a piercing look, then nodded sharply. "Coulson, you are one of my best agents. As such, I'm assigning you to lead a team."

"Sir?"

Fury tapped a control, causing a series of Holo-screens to appear, each one showing a different file.

"This will be your new team. Your number two will be Melinda May. She is an ace pilot with a great deal of experience in the field. "

"I've worked alongside her before." Coulson noted. "She's good, sir. Very good."

"So was her mother before she retired." Fury agreed. "I've often wondered if it's genetic. Next is Leopold Fitz. He'll function as your team engineer, although he suffers from hemophobia, so don't expect him to be able to help with first aid."

"I'll make sure that my medical training is up to date." Coulson noted.

"Good move. I'd recommend expanding it to the rest of the team as well. Third is Jenna Simmons. She often works alongside Fitz and they make a good team."

"I'll remember that when assigning tasks." Coulson stated, earning an approving nod.

"Antoine Triplet, better known as Trip." Fury continued, pointing to the next screen. "Grandson of one of the original Howling Commandoes, grew up listening to stories about Captain America. Rumour has it that he took up martial arts and parkour so that he could one day become the new Captain America. Finally, Agent Bobbi Morse, codename Mockingbird."

"Wow." Coulson said, shaking his head. "You've really assembled a strong team for me. I've worked with her before, she's almost on the same level as Black Widow."

"Indeed." Fury confirmed. "Had Agent Romanoff not been available, Morse would be a member of the Avengers now."

"I assume that my new team will be the primary investigation team of SHIELD?"

"You will." Fury confirmed, then he paused. "You want something. What?"

"There's a hacker who caught my attention recently, name of Skye. Went through the outer firewalls as if they weren't even there and almost managed to dodge the back-trace. That level of computer skill would be very useful."

Fury stared at him for a long moment, then slowly nodded. "If you believe you can keep this person under control, then… very well. You have permission to recruit him."

"Actually, it's more likely to be a _her_." Coulson gently corrected. "I'll put Mockingbird in charge of keeping her in line and training her up."

Fury nodded and turned back to the arc of screens that served as his workstation.

"You have your mission, Coulson, and your team is waiting in the thirds briefing hall. Good luck."

"Thank you, sir." Coulson said, then he paused. "Tony mentioned something odd to me. Apparently, young Harry can speak to snakes."

Fury froze.

"Someone like that would have been useful on that damned escort mission." He finally growled. "Coulson, start looking for those who can speak to animals."

"The snake version is called a _Parselmouth_." Coulson supplied. "I'll add it to my to-do list."

.

MODOK looked down at his newest creation. On the workbench in front of him lay what appeared to be a blond 5-year old girl, her chest open to reveal a series of sensors and circuits. To one side was a second workbench, one containing a humanoid robot still being covered in skin so that it would look like Wolverine.

"**project logan's certain destruction is almost ready for activation.**" MODOK narrated for the verbal recorders he used as a backup system. "**the first android has been equipped with a fusion detonation device and advanced hyper-heuristic programmes loaded into a kryptonian computation crystal. Readouts confirm that unit one is ready for activation. The second unit has been equipped with a modified sentinel control package due to resource limitations. Activating unit one.**"

The robot-girl on the bench opened her eyes and spoke in a monotone voice.

"Unit Elsie-Dee ready for instruction."

MODOK smirked.

.

.

.

.

.

_Author's afternote – Elsie-Dee appeared in an IS-SS Omake, so the genre-savvy amongst you would have suspected that she'd make an appearance in the proper story sooner or later.  
><em>_Also, yes. The Agents of SHIELD are now active._

_As I said at the end of IS3, it will be quite a while before I can make a true start on IS4 (still working on the outline and notes), but at least this story both shows how SHIELD recovered and loaded some more chekov's guns for my chekov's armoury.  
>Thanks for reading!<em>


End file.
